


up where they walk, up where they run

by Dreamicide



Category: Princess Tutu
Genre: Ahirue Week 2015, Alternate Universe - The Little Mermaid Fusion, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-14
Updated: 2016-12-14
Packaged: 2018-09-08 14:15:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8848225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dreamicide/pseuds/Dreamicide
Summary: when i cannot look at your face, i look at your feet. - pablo neruda





	

Rue is so pretty, it’s hard to meet her eyes sometimes without Ahiru breaking out into a blush. She turns away, fingers idly playing with the end of her braid, before chancing a glance back.

  
Rue has taken off her sandals and lightly dips the tips of her toes into the cool water of the tide pool, the salt wind blowing through her hair and dress. She looks ethereal almost, like she could stand on the water itself without sinking. She smiles at Ahiru, who then drops her gaze again.

  
“Why can you not look me in the eye?” Rue asks.

  
“Um,” Ahiru fiddles with her hair again, her tail swishing in the water. She decides to try changing the subject. “I was just thinking about–about those things again!” She points to the limbs Rue was stirring in the tide pool.

  
Rue lifts an eyebrow. “ ‘Those things’?”

  
“… I forgot what they’re called again,” Ahiru admits sheepishly.

  
“Feet,” Rue answers.

  
“Eheheheh, yeah, feet!” Ahiru’s tail lightly splashes the surface, her scales glittering from the sun reflecting light off water droplets. She looks back and forth between their differing limbs. Swimming is fun, but one thing humans can do that mermaids can’t always leaves her with a sense of longing. “Could you maybe… do that thing with them again?”

  
She’s asked it so many times, it’s no wonder Rue already knows what she’s talking about. “You mean dance?” Rue smiles sweetly and pushes herself to stand up, finding a small area of soft sand to dig her bare toes in as she begins to twirl, her dress fluttering up to her thighs like wings.

  
“Yeah… dance…”

  
Ahiru watches her performance with rapt attention, her tail swishing from side to side in an unconscious attempt to mimic Rue’s graceful movements. Dancing is by far Ahiru’s favorite thing about visiting the surface. Well, second only to Rue, really…

  
The mermaid’s eyes turn wistful after Rue completes a pirouette, and she sighs. “I wish I could dance…”

  
She wasn’t aware she said the words aloud until Rue suddenly stops and looks at her. Ahiru stills, feeling that odd sensation again where her heart starts beating faster and her cheeks feel warm. “… Eh?” Why did Rue stop, and why was she looking at her like that?

  
“Don’t be silly, Ahiru; of course you can dance,” the girl states simply as she makes her way toward the edge of the tide pool.

  
Ahiru barely has time to react before Rue jumps in with a splash, the water wading up to her waist as she reaches for the mermaid’s hands.

  
“E- _EH_? R-Rue, your–your cover thing!” In her flustered state Ahiru can’t remember the word ‘dress,’ but she knows they’re important to humans and shouldn’t get dirty. They even had their own special covers just for the purpose of getting wet.

  
“It’s just water, Ahiru. I’ll clean it when I get home. Right now,” she says, taking Ahiru’s hands into her own, “I am going to show you that you _can_ dance.”

  
It’s not the same as when Rue spins on the tips of her toes or even when she takes great leaps with the strength of her legs. It’s not anything at all like the way humans dance. But even as they sway side to side, hearing Rue’s giggles as their fingers interlock, Ahiru thinks this euphoric feeling must surely be the same.


End file.
